New York Fashion Week ended yesterday and London begins today, but before London calls, New York Fashion Week has left us quite a bit to talk about. The week kicked off with a charitable red dress fashion show as part of the American Heart Association’s Go Red campaign. The red dresses were modeled by celebrities and signaled more than just heart disease awareness; the red dresses gave the fashion world a glimpse of what was about to appear on the runways.

Red was everywhere. It did not seem to matter what type of collection a designer created. Whether the collection was art deco, vintage 1970’s or new-age 1980’s, there were splashes of red. Red was paired with everything from shades of brown, blended in with deep oranges and showed off on black/white ensembles. Fashionistas found that a single pair of red shoes or a red handbag could easily update a minimalism outfit from last year; with the addition of bold jewels of course. 

The decade of the week was the 1970’s. Everyone from Diesel Black Gold to MARC by Marc Jacobs showed 1970’s silhouettes on the runway. There were long hemlines, earth tone colors, long shoulder strap handbags, tassels, fringe, natural fabrics and floppy hats.

The art deco period and early 1900’s appeared on select runways including Marc Jacobs. There were vintage inspired column dresses, flapper fringe and the ever-popular Lady Bag.

Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein stayed true to their roots and went with minimalism. Ralph Lauren gave the fashion world a luxurious version with black ensembles made from decadent fabrics with hand stitched details. Calvin Klein fused space-age and new-age with minimalism lines. The Calvin Klein collection appeared rather bland at the end of the week when compared with the vibrant collections other designers showed on the runways.

It should be interesting to see which trends continue on the London, Paris and Milan catwalks. Will there be more red? Will the 1970’s continue with a vengeance? Will we start sneaking into speakeasies? Will the platform ever come back to earth? We shall see as the most important fashion weeks continue. . .